Small Town Trap
by Violet Raven
Summary: (Finally finished!) A mysterious murder in a small town prompts investigation from Fawkes and Hobbes. But is it just another murder, or is there more to it?
1. Prologue

Small Town Trap

Small Town Trap

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By: Bre the Cheez

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Summary: A mysterious murder in a small town prompts investigation from Fawkes and Hobbes. But is this just another murder, or is there more to it?

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Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from The Invisible Man, they are property of 'Sci-Fi' and anyone else that owns them. All the rest of the characters are mine. And the title is an Eve 6 song, so I don't own that either. Please read and review!!

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Rating: PG-13

****

Prologue

"Folks, please, this is a crime scene. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave," a young woman cried, addressing the mass of at least 30 people gathered around a space encircled by a yellow strip of tape labeled 'police line, do not cross'. The woman was dressed the opposite of the crowd, a navy blue dress coat and matching skirt that reached just past her knees. She looked relatively calm, considering the situation at hand, as she ushered the people past the yellow tape and attempting to send them back to their homes. But the crowd was unwilling to leave, and they stood on the tip of their shoes in an effort to see beyond the group of officers dressed similar to the woman leading them away. Whatever they were conspiring to conceal, it was big. The FBI was mixed in with the local police officers behind the yellow tape, and they had no intentions of allowing the locals to get in on the action. 

The scene was a small alley way that was not very populous during any time of the day, except for a few worn cats that would dig through the garbage in search for food, and the occasional homeless person who would join the cats in search. As a result, the alley was a less-than-pleasant site, with garbage strewn everywhere, while a soft blanket of darkness began to cover the people in the area. 

The darkness didn't bother the group of officers and agents gathered at the crime scene, but the locals became anxious and gradually left from growing paranoia, or just plain boredom.

"Man, this place is eerie," a black-haired man noted aloud. He was new to the agency, and was at the young age of twenty four. He had not seen as many things as the more experienced agents, and therefore was getting nervous from the reaction given by the locals. He ran a hand through his carefully gelled hair and looked at the sky nervously, as if suspicious of a trick waiting to be played on the vulnerable group.

"Don't get scared off by those people, Josh: they're harmless," his close friend and fellow FBI agent Mike reassured him as he picked up a clump of earth from the ground as a clue of sorts, and dumped it onto a plastic bag. "I mean, the town's so damn small that the Mayor is also head of the golf team."

Josh kept a smile on his face for a couple seconds, amused by his friend's comment. Then it faltered as a breeze flowed through the alley and he felt a shiver make its way from his shoulders to his legs. He looked behind them nervously, overcome with a sudden feeling that they were being watched, and whispered, "If they're so harmless, then why are we here, investigating a corpse in their town?"


	2. Ch. 1

Chapter One ****

Chapter One

"No. There is no way you're getting me to wear that, Keep. Sorry, it's just not gonna happen," a 20-some year old young man with brown, spiky hair stated firmly, hands in front of his torso with palms facing out. He held them up as signs of protest and backed slowly away when he saw a blonde woman advancing towards him with a rather strange-looking black hat with wires dangling from the top in her hand.

"Come on, Darien, it's only going to be on for a couple minutes, then it will all be over," Claire Keeply reasoned, her thick English accent calm with experience, as though she were talking to a child. And in many ways, she felt she was. Not only was he whiny, but he liked to play tricks and usually had a mischievous, goofy smile on his face. She wondered why she even put up with him. If it weren't for the fact that she was his doctor/Keeper at the Agency which refused to let him go, she might have just ignored him. But luckily for her she hadn't done that. He had proven to be loyal, and a good friend. Although at times, such as that very moment, he could be a very aggravating patient. 

"No!" he responded, continuing to back away from her. "Why the Hell do you want me to wear that anyway?"

She paused in front of the computer that sat to the side against the wall of her laboratory, and placed her hand on her hips, her other hand holding the hat out in front of her. The room was fairly small, but the small agency didn't have enough money to afford a larger one. Besides, she seemed to be doing fine with her small room. 

Darien Fawkes stood, palms against the brown, reclined, dentist-like chair that sat in the middle of the room. He was ready for anything, and had no intention of giving in to her demand. One thing about Darien is that he was always a very stubborn person, and he was not about to allow that hat anywhere near his head. 

"Look, I've already explained this to you." She held the hat out towards him. "Put this on, and we'll be able to make sure the gland is functioning correctly. It's almost like an x-ray, but more advanced."

Darien shook his head firmly. "There is no way you're getting _that_ on my head."

The door to the lab opened and they both turned their attention to the doorway and watched as a medium height bald man walked in. Immediately The Keeper and Darien began talking to him at the same time. 

"Bobby, would you please…"

"Come on, Hobbes, you have to…"

"… some sense into him. It's for his own good."

"… out of her mind. Back me up, here!"

"… need to know if everything is going…"

"… one ugly-ass hat…"

"… so if you would please tell him to wear this."

"… keep her off my back for once."

Bobby stood still and moved his head back and forth between the two and blinked. When they both stopped to take a breath, he moved on. "Ok. Anyway, The Fat Man wants to talk to us, Darien."

Darien raised one eyebrow quizzically. "I didn't do anything this time."

Hobbes shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just the messenger." He straightened his brown suit and held out his arm in front of him. "After you?"

After one final glare at The Keeper, Fawkes walked past his partner and into the hall as the older man commented, "That really is an ugly hat…"

While they walked up to The Official's office, Hobbes shot Darien a curious look.

"So what the Hell was that all about in there? Something about a hat?" He looked up at the slightly taller man and waited for an answer, an amused grin pasted on his face.

"I don't know, but if they don't stop coming up with new inventions, I am seriously gonna have to do some damage to this agency."

"Ohh," Hobbes said with a nod of understanding. "It's like that. I completely understand."

"How would _you_ understand? At least you're here of your own free will." Darien felt himself getting angry already, even though he tried not to. He was sick of working here as some lab rat that no one really cared about, unless it involved 'the gland' in his head. Sure, it had its advantages at times, but he would gladly give that up just to be free again. 

"Hey, partner, didn't mean it like that." Hobbes' New York accent was strong, but full of remorse. He hadn't meant to bring up that subject. He felt bad for his partner, and he knew that subject was touchy. He tried his best not to go anywhere near there.

Darien took in a heavy breath, and breathed it out as he walked. "Sorry, Bobby, I'm just kind of edgy today."

"No big deal."

"So what do you think he wants to talk to us about?" Darien asked, wondering if he was in trouble again, or if it was just another mission. He wasn't looking forward to either, but decided to face it anyway.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"That's not reassuring."

At the end of the hallway, they arrived at a door with a big glass window, and went in, awaiting a lecture of some sorts. 

"Hey, boss. What's going on? Hey, is that a new suit?" Darien was very forward, both out of nature and because he saw how much it annoyed the older man in front of him. He invited himself to sit down, and he crossed one leg over the other, getting comfortable in the brown couch-like chair, while Hobbes assumed his position in the identical chair to the right of Darien.

The Official didn't look amused, and with a short glare, ignoring Darien as usual, he began. "There's been a murder south of Rachel, Nevada in a small town called Hafen. It's so small that it's not even on the map. A rest-stop town. Which is strange because nothing ever happens there."

"That's great. Really is," Darien said with a touch of sarcasm. "What does it have to do with us?" 

"Not much, except the Agency's being paid to investigate."

Bobby raised an eyebrow. "That's a first. What's so great about this town that we need to investigate? I mean, I'm sure that the Feds are there and they probably have it handled."

"That's not important. All you need to know is that the victim is a young woman about twenty years old. She was fairly well-known, so the town's in a bit of an uproar trying to find the murderer. Keep an eye out for anything."

Darien nodded, and stood up. "Will do. Is that it?" He looked ready to bolt out of the room, obviously bored.

After a moment's pause to annoy the younger agent, The Official waved for him to leave. "That's it. Oh, and Claire will be joining you as soon as she's done with a little project I have asked her to work on. So she'll be seeing you in two days at the latest. In the meantime, I suggest you don't disappear too much." Without a second glance, the man looked down at the papers in front of him and started writing something as Eberts walked in the door, a little late.

"You started without me…" Eberts began while the two agents made their way out the door, giving Eberts a strange look.

Darien walked out with Hobbes right behind him. He walked at a steady, but pretty fast pace, and Hobbes jogged for a second to catch up to his partner. 

"So, Nevada it is, huh, partner?" Hobbes felt awkward for some reason, and tried to make conversation.

"Yeah, I guess." Darien seemed less than enthusiastic as Hobbes was. He kept a straight face and walked out to his car in the parking lot. Hobbes continued by his side until they reached Fawkes' green car. 

"What's wrong? You of all people should be glad to be getting out of here for a while." Bobby stood next to Darien's door as he got into the seat and shut the door.

"I'm just not excited about taking another trip for these people. Besides, it's almost Easter. I shouldn't be spending it in some small town that possibly has a murderer hanging around."

"Yeah," Hobbes agreed. "But who were you planning on spending Easter with?"

"That's not the point." As soon as that was said, Darien stepped on the gas pedal and sped away, leaving Hobbes standing in his smoke, confused and heartbroken for his unfortunate friend.

****


	3. Ch. 2

Chapter Two ****

Chapter Two

The next day things had changes to a lighter note of sorts. The sun was up and shining brightly, so much that both agents had sunglasses on and the air conditioning cooled the summer heat. 

"Ok, how about some road games? I spy with my little eye something…" Hobbes suggested as they drove towards Nevada in the brown van used on agency cases. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable vehicle in the world, but it worked for their purposes of travelling to various states and crime scenes.

Darien turned slightly towards his friend sitting in the driver's seat and shot him a skeptical look, interrupting the game. "Have you lost your mind, Hobbes?"

"Come on, Fawkes. Don't you ever like to have fun?"

"Yeah, but playing car games isn't exactly my idea of fun." He turned back towards the road and let his eyes follow the yellow line in the middle, running a hand through his spiky hair.

Hobbes shook his head. "You are no fun, my friend."

"We're not here to have fun."

"Good point," Hobbes agreed. "However, just because we're investigating the murder of a woman does not mean we have to be grouchy."

After Darien raised an eyebrow at his friend's unintentionally comical comment, there was a moment of silence. Finally unable to take it, he reached forward and turned on some music. All of a sudden the junky brown van was filled with the sound of drums and guitars, and then Metallica's blazing lyrics. Satisfied, he leaned back and silently bobbed his head to the music.

Hobbes gave him a look of disgust. "You listen to this crap?"

Darien turned to him, and asked, "Why? What do _you_ listen to? Or do I even want to know?"

Instead of answering him, Bobby leaned forward and turned the dial until the sounds of Metallica were completely gone and Barry Manilow filled the van. A pleased look covered his face, and the opposite reaction occurred on Darien.

"You've got to be kidding."

"What? This is great stuff- the classics!"

"This is going to be a long trip," Fawkes groaned, covering his face with his hand.

~*~*~

After another hour, the duo arrived in Nevada, and soon afterwards the small town of Hafen. The Official had been right- the town was incredibly small. As the van slowed and finally stopped, Darien hopped out and took a quick look around. The whole place was filled with green scenery- grass everywhere, trees, bushes, and anything else green. Added to the perfectly blue sky, Darien felt as though he was in an old television show of sorts. They had parked on the outskirts of town, and ahead of the duo lay a clump of houses, maybe ten or eleven at most, the others were a little further back. Between two houses was a small Catholic Church with a cross at the peak of the roof, and that was basically all the town consisted of. 

"Wow. Talk about your eccentric places," a voice pointed out behind him. 

"You're telling me, Bobby. There's like three stores here, a handful of houses, and that's it. And how come no one's around?" The whole place seemed strange to him, and apparently Bobby as well. He felt a shiver run up his spine, and he eyed the place warily. He pushed his sunglasses a little further up the bridge of his nose as the sun began to seep into his eye sight. 

"I have no idea. Let's go find some locals and find out."

They walked about twenty steps before arriving at a brown, brick building with a sign out front, 'General Store'. It was a small building, maybe twice Bobby's size in height, and a little longer than the height. Hobbes grinned to himself and walked in, amazed at how small the place was. 

They both stopped short when they saw the tiny store was completely void of people. The entire store was about the size of two 7-11's combined, forcing the pair to wonder how many people had to live in the town for the only store to be so small. The store only had a few shelves worth of food, but it was apparently sufficient because there was enough food left over, instead of a shortage as one might have expected.

Hobbes pulled off his sunglasses and walked around a little bit before coming behind the counter to take a quick look. 

"Nothing out of the ordinary," he observed aloud. He stood still for a minutes, trying to figure out what exactly was going on, rubbing his forehead in confusion. Then he heard some voices from behind the wall.

"Hey, Fawkes- you hear that?"

Darien looked up from the Funyons he had been eyeing in distraction and his sight shifted to his bald-headed partner. "Hear what?"

"Shh…" He stood next to the wall as voices became clearer. 

"…crazy, okay?" The voice belonged to a young woman, or so it sounded to Bobby. He scooted his ear closer to the white wall and motioned for Darien to join him.

"I don't care. If we say something, he'll probably kill us." This time it was a deep-voiced man speaking. He was much calmer than the hysterical woman that spoke previously. "I know you wouldn't want Chelsea to get hurt. Right?"

"No, but…" she sounded defeated.

"Good. Then he stays in town until he gets whatever it is he's waiting for."

Then a crowd of people began talking at once and Darien and Bobby could hear the squeal of chairs moving against the obvious tiled floor.

"They're coming back," Darien muttered, and pulled his partner away from the wall. "Come on."

They stood up and hurried towards the front of the store, each picking up a small bag of chips and trying to look inconspicuous. 

"So, what do you think? Fritos or Doritos?" Darien held up a 25-cent bag of each in his hands.

"Uh… I think… Doritos. Yeah. Is that ok with you?" Bobby turned his eyes to the left a little and with his peripheral vision he saw the owner walk in. He was a relatively old man with a full head of gray hair and was about as short as Hobbes, if not shorter. He was dressed in khaki pants, a black t-shirt and a red apron over the ensemble with the store name on the front, and a name tag pinned to the apron. Fred. 

"Hi, there, boys. Can I get you anything?" Fred had a grin on his face as he walked behind the counter.

"We're, uh, just deciding now." Fawkes said and turned back towards the chips, pretending to decide between to bags. He turned to Hobbes and whispered, "Ok, you want to try the direct approach, or the less visible one?"

"I vote for the invisible one," Bobby decided in an equally hushed whisper. "We don't want anyone to get suspicious of our asking questions."

"Ok then, let's get some snacks and find somewhere to stay, alright?" Darien scratched his forehead and grabbed some chips. 

As he threw the food on the counter, Fred rang them up. "So you boys are new here. What in the world would bring you _here_? The murder? I mean, it has to be- nobody else comes to Hafen for the heck of it."

"Well, actually… me and my friend here are just.. on a road trip," Darien lied fairly casually. 

"Oh, that's fun." He bagged the food and and took the cash from Darien's outstretched hand. After he gave him the change, his voice lowered. "Just be careful. You don't want to get too involved in Hafen's affairs. It may get you in some trouble."

"Thanks for the warning, we'll remember that," Darien said and dismissed the sentence, moving on. "Actually, I was wondering if there's any place we can stay overnight in town?"

"Well… There's not really a hotel- like I said, this isn't exactly a popular vacation spot." Fred paused before continuing. "However, Miss Lucy down the street will probably be glad for the company." He picked up the phone in front of him. "I'll just call and make the arrangements."


	4. Ch. 3

Chapter Three ****

Chapter Three

'Miss Lucy' Jones was an 82-year old woman with a head of curly gray hair and a kindly smile. Her house was one of the largest in town, yet she lived alone, which was pretty convenient for Darien and Bobby. She gladly accepted them and let them stay in two of her upstairs rooms.

"You know, I don't usually get any visitors," she commented as she led them upstairs to their rooms. "It's so nice to see new faces."

"We really can't thank you enough for your hospitality, ma'am," Bobby added gratefully. 

"Oh, it's really no hassle." She stopped in front of a door. "And, please, call me Lucy. Ok, one of you may stay in this room and the other may stay here," she said, pointing to a door to the right of the first.

"I'm staying in this one," Darien volunteered, dropping a book bag full of important overnight things in front of the left door. The bag landed with a thud and accented the momentary silence. 

The silence seemed to satisfy Lucy that things were satisfactory, so she smiled and started downstairs. Halfway down she stopped and called up, "There's only about an hour of sunlight left, so if you boys want to do some sight-seeing, you might want to hurry up and get unpacked." Then she made it downstairs and disappeared behind the wall.

Fawkes entered his room, and saw Bobby do likewise. The room was fairly large with a bed against the wall closest to the giant window straight ahead of him. There was a dark brown wooden dresser with a mirror above it, and paintings covering the antique-gold colored walls. The room had a yellow glow about it from the sun, and gave off a home-like feeling.

Darien whistled in awe. "Hey, Hobbes," he called over to his friend, hoping his voice would carry through the two opened doors. "Is your room this nice?"

"If by nice you mean mansion-worthy, then yeah, this room is _nice_." There was a short pause while they both admired the beautifully adorned rooms. Then Hobbes continued. "You know, I could really get used to this, my friend."

"Oh yeah."

~*~*~

"It's time to advance to step two," announced a man with a strange accent that sounded almost French. His face was masked by the dark shadows that engulfed the small room, but nonetheless the group congregated in front of him seemed intimidated and held on to his every word in fear. His name was Arnaud de Fohn, and he had some unfinished business with Darien Fawkes. If this was the only way to get his attention, so be it. He gave a small, evil smile as he thought of what was soon going to happen. "Once I have Darien Fawkes in my grasp, I can leave this miserable town. Take into consideration that it is in your best interest to help me. If I see another incident like Miss Sheridan, I will not hesitate to repeat her… "accident"." He stopped to look around at the group and heard a few gasps from the people. Satisfied that they would help him, Arnaud grinned and left.

At first everyone was too shocked to say anything. But after a long period of nothing, a man broke through the silence. "What's the problem, huh? We help 'im get this… Fawkes guy, an' he leaves us alone. Ah don't see any obstacles here. Ah say we lure 'im here where we'll be waitin'. We'll hand 'im over, an' they're both offa our hands."

No one spoke up against the plan.

~*~*~

"All I'm saying is that someone as strong as Superman wouldn't even _consider_ wearing spandex. I'm telling you, my friend, if they made that part up, how can we believe anything else they say about him?" Bobby explained as they walked around the town.

Darien, walking to his right, rolled his eyes with a small laugh. "Hobbes, you do realize that Superman _was_ made up? I mean, come on. A Man that can fly and lift planes?"

"Kind of like a man that can go invisible, right?"

"Well… okay, point taken."

"A-ha, see? Bobby Hobbes is not so easily fooled. But I still don't underatnd one thing. You know how everyone always says, 'It's a bird- it's a plane- it's Superman'? Well, how can he look as small as a bird, then as big as a plane in a couple seconds? It just doesn't make sense."

"Give it up, Bobby."

"I'm just saying…"

"It's not real!"

"So says you!"

"Look, can we focus on the case so we can go home?" Darien suggested before Hobbes could say anything else. 

"Point taken, okay?" He nodded, holding his hands up in defeat. "So what's the plan, then?"

Fawkes feigned confusion and scratched his head with his left hand. "Plan?"

"You mean we don't have a plan?"

"Do we ever? At least never a good one."

"No, but I assumed…"

Darien interrupted him. "The only thing I can think of is that we should look around during the day, maybe tlak to a few people, then at night I do some investigating of my own."

"I'd call that a plan."

"Well I just thought it up after I said we didn't have a plan."

"But that's still a plan."

"Ok, I get it, all right? Let's just find someone to talk to already."

"Good plan." Hobbes nodded and followed Darien's advice, which he figured wouldn't be too hard, considering the size of the town. "But what do we do? Go up to some old lady and say, 'Hi, we're federal agents. We don't mean to alarm you, but we want to know everything about this woman who was recently murdered so we can arrest the perp and get out of here.' It just isn't going to work, Fawkes. Besides, there's something… I dunno, wrong about this town. I can feel it. And Bobby Hobbes can tell when there's something evil going on."

Darien didn't reply: he knew Bobby was right. So they kept walking, until about two feet later a teenager about seventeen or so walked up to them. The boy had yellow headphones over his ears and bleach-blonde hair spikes. He was dressed in all black- jeans that seemed five sizes too big and a baggy t-shirt which was about a shade lighter than the pants. He didn't smile, and looked almost intimidating. After pulling the headphones down, he looked at the two agents with a solemn face and whispered, "You two are federal agents?"

"You heard us with those headphones on?" Bobby asked skeptically.

"They're not loud. Anyway, I guess you're here to investigate Lindsay's murder, right?"

"Lindsay… that was her name?" Darien asked, finding it was weird to think of the victim with a name. He began imagining the life she lived before death and the thought scared him a little. He pushed it into the back of his mind and looked forward. 

"Obviously." The boy said sourly, but Darien suspected that it wasn't just because of the usual expected teenage attitude, but sadness.

"Do you know what happened?" Bobby questioned the boy. "And what's with the hair? You could poke an eye out with those spikes."

"Hey, tone down the attitude a bit, there, baldy. Unless you don't wanna hear what happened." Bobby glared at the kid, rubbing a hand over his head self-consciously, but was silent. "Ok. My name's Oz Sheridan. Lindsay was my sister, and that's the only reason I'm tellin' you any of this. If anyone finds out…"

"They won't, okay?" Darien reassured Oz, although he wondered if he would be able to keep that from happening.

"It doesn't matter anyway. I just you to get this asshole out of Hafen."

"So it's not someone from town?" Bobby asked. He didn't really trust Oz yet, but so far he was the only one who gave them information. Once they got more stories to compare, he could decide who was lying. Listening to a lie wasn't going to hurt anything, just waste time.

"No. About a week ago this weird-lookin' guy came into Hafen and just sort of took over, not like it must've been very hard or anything. He just used everyone's fears against them. And my sis was an example of what would happen if they disobeyed him."

"What did she do?" Darien was feeling a wave of deja-vu come over him, as he thought of his brother, Kevin, who was killed for no good reason. Kevin was a scientist who had helped the Agency develop The Gland that currently resided in Darien's head. 

Oz shrugged his shoulders and his blue eyes turned downward. "The guy- y'know, the one who took over the town, I'm not quite sure what his name is- he caught her trying to call the police. So he shot her. He killed her for doing the right thing. And I want him to pay for it. I'd say getting him arrested is a good enough way to get payback, wouldn't you?"

Darien nodded, surprised that jail was enough revenge for the kid. When he heard that his brother had been killed, he wanted to go out and kill the man who murdered him. Arnaud. Darien had even tried to kill him before, but the man still lived. He wished that he didn't have such a desire to do such damage, and apparently Oz had a reasonable way of revenge. 

"Ok. But there's sort of a problem."

"Isn't there always?"  
"I'm assuming since you two're the only ones here that I don't know one of you has to be Darien Fawkes, right?"

"That would be me. Trouble just seems to follow me around." Darien shook his head and sighed. "Now what is it?"

"Well, I'm tryin' to help you guys and all, but I'm the only one in town." Seeing the confused faces staring back at him, he continued. "See, the only way this dude's gonna leave is if he gets you," he said, pointing to Darien. "And since everyone wants him out of here, they're kind of… helping him."

"This is great, just great. A town full of people after me." Then Darien paused a second. "But I want to know one thing- who would want me bad enough to hold a whole town hostage? And who would be vicious enough to do it in the first place?"

Bobby chuckled lightly. "You're not exactly narrowing down any lists. I think everyone after you would go to these lengths to get what they want."

"That's true," Darien agreed. "So you don't know anything about this guy? Not even something that stands out?"

"Well," Oz began, "he has some weird name, I think he mentioned it once. Plus, he has this really strange accent. I can't really explain it."

"Damn."

"What? You know who it is?" Oz asked.

"Arnaud," Bobby and Darien chorused.


	5. Ch. 4

Chapter Four ****

Chapter Four

In the shadow formed by an overgrown willow tree, Arnaud watched and listened. The boy had proven to be a weak link in the structure he had tried hard to build in this town. But he could use this betrayal to his advantage. Slowly, a plan formed in his sinister mind, and this new plan might even work more in his favor. Darien would suffer, and most definitely come with him- one of the disadvantages of Darien's guilty conscience and caring disposition.

He watched the blonde-haired teen walk away from Darien and his partner, checking all ways to make sure no one was watching. Too bad for the boy: he should have checked more carefully.

Arnaud slowly felt the chill of Quicksilver run down his body, and every part of him began to disappear. Once the transformation was complete, he held his hand in front of him, but only saw a purple shadow of his hand placed in front of a black-and-white-colored world.

Satisfied, he turned his attention back to the 'traitor'. Running after him, it wasn't a hard endeavor to catch the unsuspecting teen.

Before Oz got a chance to scream, he felt an icy hand cover his mouth, though he saw nothing, and pull him backwards. He scrambled to get away from the mysterious force pulling him, but he couldn't. After trying to catch Darien's attention failed, he gave in and let himself be dragged towards wherever it was he was being taken. But he never got the chance to see where he was going. The hand over his mouth moved upwards a little to cover his nose as well and he felt his oxygen supply being cut off. Still trying to struggle, he panicked and tried to breathe harder which only pushed his consciousness further away. His vision started to fade and was replaced with dancing black dots. Soon after, he saw nothing.

~*~*~

"So, you believe this kid, Fawkes?" Bobby asked his friend, unsure of what he himself felt about the situation.

Darien thought for a moment. "I'm not sure, but I know we don't have much else to believe right now. So I think we should just go along with this kid for the time being, and if we get another side of the story, then we'll question him."

"Alright, but I want you to remember one thing through this, ok? Here it is- Arnaud is basically holding this entire town hostage. He knows what they do, and he probably already knows about Oz, and being invisible is only adding to his power over them."

"I know all this, Hobbes. What are you trying to say?" Darien questioned, looking him in the eye. He straightened his dark green sweatshirt, and folded his arms over his chest. 

"These people's lives depend on you. Don't let your hatred for him interfere with your judgement."  
Darien and Bobby stared at each other for a moment, Bobby making sure his partner understood, and Darien angry that Hobbes would even suggest that. But after a minute, Darien looked away, realizing that it was a possibility. A very _strong_ possibility, that this would be the case later on. 

Fawkes gave a short, affirming nod. "Fine."

Bobby sighed. "So now what?"

"I have no idea. We need another head here to help."

Hobbes agreed and turned around, thinking. A smile began to form on his face. "I think we just got that third head."

Darien gave him a confused look, then followed Bobby's vision until he saw a blonde woman coming towards them with a medium-sized suitcase in her right hand. She waved with her left hand and hurried towards them.

"Hey, Keepy!" Darien called, amiably, despite the circumstances.

She feigned annoyance by the nickname but her grin slipped through. When she reached them, she set her suitcase on the grass under their feet. "Nice to see you both in one piece, for once," she said, with a joking smile.

Bobby held up a finger to protest, but Darien interrupted him, leaving his mouth hanging open for a moment. "Yeah, well, we might not be like this for long. Arnaud's in town, and from what we've heard, he's responsible for the murder."

"Oh… That could be a problem, then, huh?"

Darien nodded. "Just a little."

"So then you haven't gone invisible yet?"

"Well, I didn't want to go crazy before you got here, so no, we haven't done much searching. Besides, we've only been here a couple hours." 

"Ok, can we drop my things off wherever you're staying and then do a little looking around? By the way," she added, "where _are_ you staying? There's no hotels around here."

Bobby told her about Miss Lucy, making sure not to leave out the details of the gorgeous rooms. Claire looked impressed. 

"Wow! I can't wait to see it!"

"Well," Darien noted, "why wait any longer? Let's get back."

~*~*~

The first thing Oz saw when his eyes opened and adjusted to the light was Arnaud. He was sitting at a table on the other end of the room. He noticed that the room was fairly nice. It had a light green, and barely faded carpet, a table, where Arnaud was sitting, and chairs to match. Oz felt neither, however. He was tied rather tightly to a blanket-less bed. And much to his frustration, his mouth was gagged.

Determined, he tried to get the cloth out of his mouth, but found it extremely difficult without the use of his hands, which were held tightly to the backboard of the bed. 

Arnaud, unfortunately, heard his struggling and turned around towards the teenager. "Oh, I see you're awake."

Oz simply glared at him and threw garbled curses at him. 

"Hmm, someone's a little pissed still. But don't worry, you won't be here long. You're just bait. And as soon as I have Darien, you might be free to go, depending on how well you behave. So I suggest you are very, _very _good. Get it?"

Still glaring, Oz acquiesced. He nodded, and looked away from the face staring back at him. 

"Good. Now, I have a plan to set into motion, so if you'll excuse me." With that, he turned his back and went back to work at the table.

Oz mentally flipped him off, and prayed that Darien would be safe through all this. He didn't want Darien to fall prey to this madman, but there was nothing he would be able to do tied up in this room. He had to get out.


	6. Ch. 5

Chapter Five ****

Chapter Five

"Ok, so what do we do now?" Claire asked her friends when they were secure in Darien's current room after they caught her up on everything that had happened during their time spent in Hafen. 

"You got me, Keep," Darien replied honestly. He leaned back onto the headboard of the bed and rubbed his eyes. "I just want to get Arnaud out of this town and behind bars where he belongs. However, based on previous encounters, I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen. So we'll hope for just getting him out of here."

"I have a question, though." Bobby had a slightly confused look on his face as he turned to Darien. "Last time we saw him, he was stuck invisible. Right?"

Darien's face creased in thought. "Yeah, I was kind of thinking about that earlier. So what do you think happened?"

The two partners looked at Claire for some sort of medical explanation. She had none. "I have no idea how to even go about conducting research on that, and I have no real first-hand experiences on that. But knowing Arnaud he has some scientist friend and he helped him… turn visible again."

"Yeah, well… that's not exactly good news, Claire." 

"In all the time you've worked for the agency, Darien, how much good news have you actually heard?" 

"You've got a point, there."

"Of course." Claire smiled and pulled the sheets over her legs as a sudden chill passed by them. She shivered and rubbed her uncovered arms. "Is it getting a little chilly in here, or is it just me?"

The other two agreed with her. "No, it's not just you." Bobby stood up and went to the window. He pushed it down until he heard a click. "There we go."

Darien looked around the room warily and stood up to get a better look around. 

"Fawkes, what are you doing?" Hobbes looked at him curiously.

"Darien…" Claire gave him an equally inquisitive look. Darien just ignored both of their comments. He stopped turning his head, stopped and listened, and found nothing. Still not satisfied, he paused and his eyes disappeared from plain view.

Claire and Hobbes seemed to get the hint and shut-up, joining him in searching the room simply with their eyes. 

Darien continued to quicksilver until his entire body was invisible. He found it less disturbing to his friends to see none of him than everything but his eyes. Plus he enjoyed it more. And to his satisfaction, but not surprise, he saw a purple body shape in front of him. 

"You know, you should really work on your entrance, de Fohn. The whole sneaking in the window has been done to death."

Arnaud ignored the thief's comment, and went straight into his plan. "I have something you want."

"Oh really?" Darien didn't sound like he cared, and he really didn't. Arnaud wasn't a trustworthy person, and he had no reason to believe him. 

"Yes. And I suggest that if you want him back that you follow through with what everyone else wants you to do and come with me so I can leave. Why make these innocent people suffer for your stubbornness?" 

The other invisible man rolled his eyes. "Save the bull, Arnaud. What makes you think I'm just going to come with you?"

"I know you, Fawkes. You won't let that teenager die for you."

"Oz… dammit!" Darien walked across the room from his two friends who had paused almost halfway to the door. They were obviously about to leave when they heard of Arnaud's hostage. He grimaced and paced for a few seconds.

"Exactly. Now, are you going to come with me willingly or do I need to bring you forcefully? Personally I would rather not waste my energy on you, so I'd really rather you come peacefully." Arnaud looked cocky, even through quicksilver vision, and it made Darien sick. 

"Fine," Darien growled, much to the surprise of his friends.

"Darien!" They both cried. But Darien ignored them and walked towards his nemesis. 

"Good." He turned his attention towards Darien's friends and turned visible for a minute. "You'll find the boy back in town in an hour or so."

"What about Darien? What are you going to do?" Bobby demanded angrily. 

Arnaud simply smiled. "I have some unfinished tests to perform, and a little revenge to seek. But I wouldn't worry about him if I were you. And if you interfere, I promise you there will be severe consequences."

Then he disappeared again and grabbed Darien by the arm. Leading him out the door, Bobby and Claire were left gaping at what had just played before them. And once again they had no idea where to go from there.

~*~*~

Oz woke up to the sound of a door opening rather loudly and then shut, but he saw no one come in. "H-hello?" He called, wondering what had happened.

"Hello, Oz," an accented voice called back from the air. Oz looked around to find the location of the voice. But what he saw surprised him even more than what he heard. A person materialized in from of him, followed by another person. Arnaud, the first one, had a grin plastered on his face, while the other person, who he recognized with a disappointed moan as Darien, looked very upset. And Oz knew it was because of him.

"Miss us?" Arnaud questioned sarcastically. He held tightly to Darien's wrist, as if he was afraid that his prisoner would run off. 

Oz snarled, but didn't reply, knowing that it would be unintelligible anyway. He was angry with himself for letting Darien fall into this trap, but he also knew that there was really nothing he could have done. And then… How had they both materialized out of thin air? He had never seen anything like that in his entire life. 

"I imagine you have questions, but I'm afraid you won't be able to ask them. I'm letting you go, and I'm far too busy to talk to you right now." Arnaud walked over and untied the teen and ignored him as he left the prison. While leaving, Oz shot Darien an apologetic look. Darien smiled reassuringly and then turned his attention back to Arnaud.

"What makes you think I'm gonna stay here now that Oz is gone?" Fawkes asked, sure that Arnaud had a plan. And he did.

"If you try to escape, I hired two men who will bring you back in, rather forcefully. Plus, I just might have to perform some extra experiments that will be… less pleasant. And besides that, I'm still in control of this town. I assume you can find a reason to stay and help me?"

Unfortunately, Darien couldn't think of any way to get out of his predicament, so he went along with it. "Whatever. So anyway, what do you have in store for today? Something exciting I hope." He kept the usual coy smile on his face at all times to keep his confidence in tact. He was in fact afraid of what could happen. He knew Arnaud's power, and that he wouldn't hesitate to… damage Darien if need be. 

Arnaud looked slightly amused. "Well, I thought we'd start with a head exam."

"Yeah, ok. But I have a question. Two, actually. Um, first- how are you visible again, and two- why do you need me if you're back to normal?"

Arnaud nodded and sat down next to Darien. "Well, I actually found a scientist who was rather acclaimed for his work on the human brain, and coincidentally he had a few infra-red glasses around his laboratory. I told him to put them on and he did. After I told him what I would do if he refuse to help me and then told him that I could make him famous for his work on invisibility, he helped me turn visible again. I'm not exactly sure of the process considering I was unconscious most of the time, but it seemed to work almost perfectly."

"Wait, you were unconscious while he dug around in your brain. You must have had a lot of trust in the guy. Why?" Darien was puzzled, and his face showed it well.

"Never underestimate the greed of man, Fawkes. You should know that by now."

Darien had to agree. Being a thief, he'd met some pretty greedy people in his time. "Ok, I understand that. But you said it worked '_almost_ perfectly'?"

Arnaud's face darkened. "Exactly. That's why I went through all this trouble to get you. Did you think it was for no reason? No, I need you. You're brain is functioning perfectly now, aside from the occasional quicksilver madness possibility, but that can be controlled by your counteragent."

"So," Fawkes began, "your brain isn't acting normal and you need to look at mine? Now, see, I'm just not understanding."

"I don't expect you to. But something that doctor did in my head helped turn me visible, but it's slowly destroying brain cells and is starting quicksilver madness, despite the use of counteragent. No, I have never experienced this 'madness' in which I've seen you, but I know that it's not something I want to go through. So if I can determine what exactly happens in the brain during QSM, than I may be able to prevent it in my own mind."

"Hold it, there, Dr. Frankenstein. You're gonna make me go through QSM, observe it, and find a way to stop it other than the counteragent?" Arnaud nodded, and Darien shook his head firmly. "No way. How are you going to get me to go invisible? You can't, all right? You're crazy."

"Maybe I am, but I can make you turn invisible anyway." He pulled out a gun and began to shoot it at Darien. With no other alternative and knowing that he couldn't outsmart Arnaud while visible, he quicksilvered and disappeared.

"That's right, Darien, quicksilver." He stopped shooting and before Darien could turn back, Arnaud threw a dart at him which hit his arm. Darien scoffed and pulled the dart out, but found he couldn't reappear.

"What the Hell was in that thing?" Darien yelled, still trying to turn visible again.

"A handy little chemical that hinders your ability to reappear. Now all we need to do is wait until you need counteragent and then I'll turn you invisible." Then he took a bat, turned his eyes invisible, and smashed the bat into the back of Darien's head. He fell to the ground with a 'thud' and was unconscious.


	7. Ch. 6

Chapter Six ****

Chapter Six

"This is not good, this is definitely not good," Bobby muttered to himself, while pacing back and forth in his room. His hands clasped together behind his back and he nervously fidgeted with his fingers. He stopped pacing for a minute and threw his brown jacket off of his body and onto the bed. Then he unbuttoned the top button on his no-longer crisp, white shirt and continued his pacing across the rug.

"So you keep saying," Claire noted with a sympathetic hint to her voice. She felt bad for Bobby as well as Darien, but she had no idea how to help either of them. She crossed her legs onto the bed and followed her friend with her eyes. "Stop pacing, Bobby, you're making me nervous."

Hobbes stopped and sat down next to her. "We've got to do something, Keeps. Sitting around here isn't doing Fawkes any good, and God knows what that sick bastard Arnaud's doing to him right now while we waste time sitting around." He anxiously tapped his foot against the floor and grimaced at the thought of what could be happening at that very moment. He envisioned so many things, but before they could finish, he pushed them out of his mind.

Claire gently placed an arm around his shoulder and pulled him a little closer. "Don't worry, Bobby- we'll think of something. Darien _will_ be okay."

Bobby didn't look convinced, but he returned her reassuring smile anyway while thinking of a way to get his friend back home.

~*~*~

Darien woke up in a small, white padded room. His face contorted as he thought back to what had happened previous to his passing out. Arnaud was trying to make him go Quicksilver mad, but that wasn't going to happen. Darien refused to let it happen. He would fight as long as he could, and when he couldn't fight anymore, he would just have to think of something before Arnaud got his greedy hands on that information. 

He stood up slowly and felt his body collapse beneath him and he fell onto the floor, which was, lucky for him, padded like the walls. As his face hit the soft padding, he cried out in frustration. Something in that drug Arnaud had given him was making him too weak, and it was keeping him invisible. 

After gathering his strength enough to stand, Darien paused. He knew that somehow Arnaud was watching him from another room, but he couldn't find any camera anywhere. He dug his nails into the padding on the walls, and he searched the place as thoroughly as he could, and after about fifteen minutes, he found it. It was to high for him to reach, but he could definitely see it. The camera was a tiny, black box that Darien assumed to be infra-red and it sat smugly in the top right hand corner of the room, mocking the prisoner who wanted so badly to tear it down, but it was just out of reach. 

He looked into it and stopped grabbing for it. "Damn you, Arnaud!" he screamed at his nemesis. Then he cried out again and pounded his fist into the opposite wall, trying to drive out his anger. But he could feel the beginning of QSM coursing through his veins, driving him crazy, and he had no cure for it. If only he could get a hold of The Keeper…

_No, that's not going to work_, he told himself. _Think of something you can actually _do_, Darien. You can't let this asshole get the information from you. He'll be nearly unstoppable. With no side effects, he could turn invisible as much as he wants and do whatever he wants without being detected. And I won't let that happen._

He grabbed his head and bit back a cry as he felt pain jolt through his brain. _Think quick, dammit. Think…_

The pain subsided very slowly and he breathed in and out heavily, then straightened his back until he was standing erect. He sighed, and then, very cautiously, sat down on the white padded bench provided for him in the room. His mind was a blank, as it usually was in tight situations. And this certainly qualified as a tight situation. 

"Ok, there has to be a way out," Darien murmured aloud. "The question is, how do you get there?" He looked around, trying to place his discomfort out of his head. He bit his lip in concentration. But before the answer came to him, the wall opened. Looking up in confusion, Darien was surprised to find it being a door. Arnaud walked in proudly, and literally waltzed straight up to his hostage. The dance was a strange one, and the man did it with a pompous smile on his face, as if the dance somehow made him superior. Darien just thought him mad, as usual.

"And how are we doing, my invisible friend?" Arnaud wore black infra-red goggles on his head as a precaution, and Darien wondered silently why he didn't just turn invisible as well.

Although his head ached worse than he had felt in a while, and he wanted to curl up and die, Darien put on a sardonic smile. "Just fine, thanks. You know, aside from the whole being-held-captive-by-my-arch-nemesis thing. But thanks for asking."

Arnaud shook his head slightly. "You know, Darien, you are far too sarcastic for your own good." With that, he raised his knee and slammed it into Darien's stomach.

The invisible man doubled over and fell to the ground clutching his stomach in pain. "Screw you, Arnaud. You'll never get what you want," he gasped through shallow breaths.

That's what you think," he replied, angry now. He drew his leg back and kicked Darien in the head, and then left without checking to make sure that man was even conscious still.

Fawkes lay on the ground, stagnant, until his enemy left the room heatedly. Then he slowly rolled over onto his back, still grasping himself weakly where a bruise was already forming. A small river of blood trickled from his head, but he paid it no attention. Focusing all his attention on getting out, he sat up as delicately as he could in his condition and rested his head against the padded walls with a small whimper. There had to be a way to get out without Arnaud finding out, and Darien was determined to find it. 

~*~*~

Bobby looked around the town as he walked around it, trying to find some sort of clue as to where his partner was being held. He knew that Darien had gone willingly, but that was only because Arnaud had a hostage. Now that Oz was no longer in his grasp, there was no immediate danger to anyone, although Hobbes suspected that the malevolent man had some sort of backup plan. They always did. He just needed a counter attack ready for that backup plan.

Claire walked next to him, dressed casually in a brown sweatshirt and jeans. Bobby couldn't remember seeing her so casual. He liked it, and said so.

"Why, thank you, Bobby," she replied with a pleased smile. Bobby's face turned bright red as she kissed him lightly on the cheek. Her grin broadened at his discomfort, but she changed the subject. "So, where should we look?"

Hobbes shrugged, grateful for the new subject. It brought him back to reality, and he really needed to focus on finding his partner and best friend. "I have no idea, but I'll bet someone in town will."

"Well, they might, but who's going to tell? They assume that as long as Darien is not in Arnaud's hands, he won't leave. And while that may or may not be true, they're not going to help us get him back if it means he's going to stay longer," Claire pointed out honestly. 

Bobby had to agree, but once that idea was shot down, he had no others. The people of the town were his last hope if he wanted to find Arnaud and his friend. 

"I don't care, I'm going to try. Someone has to have compassion in this town," Bobby decided. "I mean, what's the worst that can happen? They say no and we go ask someone else. Come on, Claire, we have to help Darien."

"I know, I know… You're right. Let's go." She stood up confidently and with a false hope that betrayed her feelings, but Bobby gave her a reassuring smile and her hopes began to raise. After all, they had found Darien before in what seemed to be hopeless situations, so why not now? Of course, once that thought crossed her mind she realized how far-fetched that sounded. Their luck had to run out soon, and Claire had a feeling it was going to be this time.

"Claire?" Hobbes gave her a concerned look. "You okay? You look… sick." He put his palm over her forehead, but she gently pushed it away.

"I'm fine, Bobby. I'm just concerned for Darien, that's all." Claire spoke with assurance, but Bobby's look didn't waver. He remained unconvinced.

"No, maybe you should stay here…"

Claire sighed in frustration. "Look, just because I'm a woman and am worried about my friend does _not_ mean that I have to sit here and wait around to find out if everything is okay!" 

Bobby was taken aback by her outburst, but consented. "Fine, I was just worried about ya, that's all."

She breathed out slowly. "I'm sorry, I'm just scared. We have no idea what Arnaud is capable of, or what his intentions are. God, I just… I feel so helpless, and I hate that feeling."

"I know, Keeps, I know. But we _will_ find him. Just keep positive and think hard, and we'll find him." He spoke assertively so that she wouldn't find any doubt in his voice, because if he didn't sound confident, she would lose heart. Besides, he truly believed that they would find his partner. No matter what.

Claire smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Bobby."

Hobbes tucked a piece of her messy blonde hair behind her ear and shot her a goofy grin. "You're welcome. Now let's go find Darien."

~*~*~

Arnaud entered his room down the hall from where Darien was being held. The deteriorating inside of his head was becoming unbearable, and Darien hadn't cracked yet. He cursed under his breath as his legs gave way beneath him, bringing him to his knees. As he fell, a distressing thought occurred to him. 

"I'm beginning to lose control of my body…" he whispered to himself. He gasped at the realization. It was a strange concept to grasp, being unable to control his own body. Soon he would basically be paralyzed, and Darien would be completely overtaken by Quicksilver madness. The combination in itself caused Arnaud to flinch as he placed his hands on the bed next to him. His arch-nemesis would be unstoppable, bent on revenge, and not to mention crazy, while he would be useless and unable to move to fight him off.

There was only one solution: rethink the original plan. There were two options left to do, and neither were great. He could sit around and wait for Darien to go completely mad, meanwhile hoping that he had enough time to observe Darien's brain before he became paralyzed, but that was a big risk. The other option was to give Darien counteragent, which would keep him sane and hopefully far away. However, he would still be paralyzed and Fawkes would still pine for his revenge. The only difference would be Darien's state of mind. He would be a much more dangerous enemy without his desired counteragent. 

Still, neither option seemed a good idea. The whole plan was to find the cure for his own brain malfunctioning. If Darien were cured, he would be safer, granted, but it would be harder to get a hold of him again in time to save his own life. 

"Why can't there be a simple explanation for all this?" he muttered to himself. Then he laughed silently remembering how Darien had chided him for being "ridiculous" in always having a complicated process to get what he wanted. And it was true. He had basically held an entire town hostage just to get Darien. It had, however, worked, no matter how intricate it was. So far, at least. It would only make sense that things got screwed up now. After all, nothing could ever go his way.

Coming up with no solution, he strode angrily to the door and stormed into the room were Darien was being held, thermal glasses placed on his face, unfortunately for Darien hiding his sadistic eyes. Before Darien could mutter a smug "hello", Arnaud had his fingers curled around the collar of the weaker man's shirt while pinning him against the wall.

"Look, you pretentious bastard, I don't have time for your juvenile games," he cried furiously, tightening his grip on Darien. "I'm dying, do you understand that? And normally I realize that this would be good news for you, but how's this for a challenge, eh? If I die, or even end up as a cripple my entire life, my men will execute your friends, one by one, and I'll make sure that they do it _slowly and painfully_." He drew out the last three words to get his point across. Apparently Darien understood.

Fawkes snarled at Arnaud and tried to escape his grasp, but to no avail. "You are sick, you know that? No, I mean, really. Because of your own stupid mistake, you're going to kill my friends just to get me to be your lab rat, as well as theirs."

"Precisely. At least we're on the same level now. So what will it be, _Fawkesy_? Huh? Are you really willing to sacrifice your friends to watch me die?"

Darien paused for a moment. "Fine. Just remember this: in the end, I _will_ get you, and it won't be pretty."

Arnaud chuckled lightly. "Of course. But you see, there is a slight problem," he began as he dropped Darien on the ground roughly. He rubbed his eyes in frustration and walked in circles around Darien as if he were prey. "I don't have time to sit around and wait for you to go….well, for lack of a better term, insane, although I see you're almost there," he said, grabbing and looking at Darien's wrist. Two more full segments left. "So I am going to have to speed things up. I'm sure you won't mind."

"Wait a minute, Dr. Jekyl. You can't speed this up any more." Darien was panicking. If he sped up the time, then there would be less for Bobby and Claire to find him in, although he doubted they would find him easily anyway. Granted, he had complete faith in his friends, but he also knew how much Arnaud needed to keep him hidden. And Arnaud was good at playing hide-and-seek with The Agency, which worried him, possibly more than Arnaud recovering. Once he was completely restored to perfect health, he would simply terminate his enemy, without any doubt.

"You seem to underestimate my resources, Fawkes," Arnaud chided as he turned around to his chemical table. He picked up two test tubes, one a light blue color and the other a greenish color, and mixed them together. He swirled them around once the two liquids were in the same tube and turned to give Darien a menacing grin. "Don't worry, this won't hurt… much."

Darien stood up and backed against the cushioned wall. "There is no way you're getting that thing in me."

"Oh really?" Arnaud lunged at Darien and a fight ensued. Darien lifted his leg up in defense. It collided with Arnaud's chest, throwing him back to the other side of the room. Staggering to his feet, he growled in anger. 

"Yeah, really," Darien snapped back, cold fingers colliding with Arnaud's nose. A look of surprise came over his face as blood trickled from his right nostril. He dabbed at it with the back of his hand, then looked up at his aggressor with a tinge of lunacy apparent on his face. Darien was undaunted, the effects of quicksilver madness nudging at his being, trying to overtake him, but already staring to take a toll on his state of mind. Arnaud no longer intimidated him. 

Arnaud saw this, and a grin slowly crept up on face, blood falling onto his curved lips. "Perhaps I won't need this serum after all…"

"Yeah? Good for you. No, really." Darien crept closer to Arnaud, his mouth forming a straight line, dark eyes focused on his adversary. "But I think you should be worried about yourself before you get all excited. I can tell what condition you're in, even if you try to hide it, and I'm your last hope." He held his hands out so his body formed a cross. "You can't kill me. Do you realize what that means? I can do anything I want to you, and what are you gonna do? Huh?"

Arnaud raised an eyebrow. "You're arrogance is tiring, Fawkes. Just because I can't kill you doesn't mean I can't… play around a little." He kicked Darien in the chest.

Fawkes fell down hard. He couldn't breathe until he landed on the hard floor, and on impact he breathed in sharply though wet teeth, grimacing.

Arnaud dropped down next to him, squatting at his side. "Painful, I know. But the pain won't last for long."

A confused look came over Darien's face, then it was replaced with shock as he felt a sharp prick in his neck. His hand flew to the tingling spot, and he felt a drop of blood. Arnaud looked at him with the smug grin that Darien hated so much, holding an empty syringe in his hand. He patted Darien's head. "See you when you wake up." 

Darien moaned and fell backwards, closing his eyes regretfully as Arnaud left the room and locked the door, straightening his dark blue suit as he left, and wiping his nose one more time.


	8. Ch. 7

Chapter Seven ****

Chapter Seven

Oz paced in his room, bleach-blonde hair no longer spiked, but brushed down, and not a trace of gel anywhere. He needed to help Darien get rid of Arnaud, that was obvious. He had a feeling the strangers were the only one who had a chance against the vicious bastard, but right now, their state was not looking good. If he tried to go in and free Darien, he could not only die, but risk other lives, including Darien's, although he doubted that Darien was in any immediate danger. Oz stood no chance against Arnaud, and he was very aware of that fact. But he did know someone who might.

Darien's friend. What was his name? Bobby? Yeah, that was it. Bobby could get Darien out, and help get Arnaud away from Hafen. He knew that he was about to take a very big risk, but it was the only chance he had. If they didn't succeed in freeing Darien, they would both die, and more than likely the town would be punished as Arnaud had promised. 

Oz had faith in this man, even if he was bald, and rude. He was anything but unloyal. The man seemed to be very close to Darien, and Oz had a hunch that he would give his life for the younger man. So odds were, he wasn't going to fail. 

Having made up his mind for the moment, he stopped pacing and ran to his closet to grab a clean shirt. He threw it over his head and rushed out the door without so much as a goodbye to his grieving parents. They never noticed that he was gone.

~*~*~

Bobby Hobbes, dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, walked ahead of Claire, searching every corner for a sign of Darien, or Arnaud. He wanted to badly to be optimistic, but under the circumstances, he found it more difficult than one would think. He knew how badly Arnaud wanted Darien, so there wouldn't be any clue as to where they were. It would be worse than looking for a needle in a haystack, even though the town was so small. He had no idea where to look. 

He turned around to look at Claire. She was looking intently as well, with a less sanguine look plastered firmly on her face. She caught Bobby's eye and tried to give a smile, but she was too worried for it to come out as she had hoped. 

Bobby slowed down and waited until she was walking next to him. "Someone in this town has to have some idea of where they could be."

"I don't know, Bobby," she said quietly. "These people seem to want nothing to do with the situation. They want to cooperate with Arnaud and get him out of here as fast as they can. I don't think they'd help us, even if they _did_ know where he is, and I don't think they know anything about this."

Bobby shook his head firmly. "I don't believe that. Arnaud is less careful around these people because he knows that they want to cooperate with him. Someone had to have found out." 

Claire was about to say something, then paused and stopped walking "You may have a point there. No, listen. Darien was going to help Oz, right? Oz has to know where Darien is!"  
"Y'think?"

"Of course! I just know it- Oz has to know something. It only makes sense. We have to talk to him." For the first time since Darien had left, Bobby saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes, and it was enough to reassure him.

"Alright, it's a plan."

They were about to continue walking in the direction of Oz's house, when he stopped in front of them in the middle of the road. "We need to go somewhere else," he whispered darkly.

"I'm sorry?" Claire asked.

"You heard me. If you want to know where Darien is," he continued in a low voice, "follow me." He pulled his black hood over his head and pointed his head to the ground so no one would be able to recognize him. He put his hand in his pockets, and shuffled his feet, hoping that he was doing the right thing.

After a ten minute walk, they were back to "Miss Lucy's" home.

"Alright, Pally. Where's Darien?" Bobby demanded as soon as they were back in his room, and sitting on his bed.

"Cool it, ok? What is you problem?" Oz asked with a disgusted look on his face.

"I don't happen to trust your type, that's what the problem is."

"Bobby!" Claire exclaimed giving him a shocked look. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him with her mouth partly ajar.

"I'm sorry, okay? But teenagers just… they're not right," he defended himself.

Claire's eyes and mouth opened more, taken aback by his attitude. "Be nice!"

Bobby sulked in his chair, slouched, and shot Oz a dirty look, but he didn't give any more rude comments, much to the delight of the teenager.

"Ok, look. I know where the bastard is keeping Darien, but once again, I could cause some serious… damage if he were to find out that I was telling you this."

Claire was about to reassure him, but he cut her off.

"I don't care, though. He has to get out of here. He's ruining our town. People can't sleep, in fear that they'll die while sleeping, and everything is just going wrong. I think, no I know, that you are the only three that can save us from him." He pulled his hood off and Claire saw, for the first time, how worried he was. His face was creased with concern, and he looked more pale than usual. His baby blue eyes looked to her expectantly. 

"We'll get him out of your town, Oz," she said confidently. "Where is Darien?"

"There's this empty place just out of town…"

~*~*~

Arnaud walked back into where Darien was being kept, his face mostly clean of blood, except for a red tint right under his nose. He held in his hand many wires. Walking right up to Darien's unconscious body, he kicked his stomach as hard as could, rewarding himself with a sense of accomplishment, then he bent down next to him. Arnaud attached wires under the big head of hair and then woke him up with a slap. 

"Get up," he ordered. Darien obeyed, and his eyes fluttered open.

"You still here, huh?" he quipped without a smile. Then he felt the wires. "What the Hell are these?" He tried to pull on them, but they didn't budge.

"You'll find out soon," Arnaud assured him as he left the room. He came to a computer just outside of the door and stopped. A woman stood next to him in front of the computer, dressed in a dark red suit-dress and high-heels. 

"Ready, Dana?" he asked her, with a sly grin on his face. 

She smiled back. "Everything's ready, we're just waiting for him."

He wrapped an arm around her waist, pleased that they both came to about the same height, even with her heels on. "How long do you estimate it will take at this rate?"

"Maybe ten minutes at the most."

"Perfect." He lightly brushed his lips against hers, then kissed her. She laid her arms over his shoulders and kissed him back.


	9. Ch. 8

Chapter Eight ****

Chapter Eight

Bobby walked up to the door where Oz said that Darien was being held, gun in hand. "Ok, so what? This is the only entrance? We can't just walk right in, there have to be guards or something."

"There are," Oz stated plainly. "But there's also another way in through the back."

"How would you know about that?" Bobby asked suspiciously. 

"I used to come and play down here with Lindsay and some friends when I was younger. We snuck in here that way. So I think I'd know a little more about this than you, ok?"

"Hey, now who's being rude?"

"Stop it, you two," Claire warned them. "Where is this entrance?"

"Come on, I'll show you."

Oz took the lead, and Claire stayed back to chide Bobby.

"Hey, he started it! Did you see the way he talked to me? That was just waiting for a comeback, Keeps, I'm tellin' ya! He's friggin' worse than Eberts, and that's pretty sayin' something." Then he added sourly, "Eberts…"

Claire shook her head and followed Oz, leaving Bobby to go on about Eberts. 

They arrived at a small hole in the wall, just big enough to fit through, but it was hidden by grass, and therefore unnoticeable. "This is perfect," she told Oz. "Thank you so much for all your help." When Bobby didn't chime in, she glared at him.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks a lot, _Oz_." He spoke Oz's name with discontent, like he always did Eberts'. He was obviously not about to warm up to the teen. 

"Hey, no way. I'm going with you," he argued.

"Look, Arnaud's a dangerous criminal. I don't think it's a good idea for you to go with us," Claire suggested kindly. "I think you'd be better off staying here."

"No," he stated firmly. "I got you guys this far, you can't make me leave now. You may need my help."

"Even so…" she began, but was cut off by Hobbes.

"She's right, we can handle this ourselves."

"Now that's not what I meant, Bobby, and you know it. Ok. I suppose you might be helpful, and you did help us so far, so you can come. Just be careful," Claire informed him.

Oz nodded respectfully. "Yes ma'am, can do." He grinned, excitement building. They were finally on their way to taking Arnaud down, and he couldn't wait.

Claire went in first, much to the objection of the guys. Oz started the go a couple seconds later, but remembered to give Bobby the finger before he disappeared into the dark tunnel.

~*~*~

Darien fought himself as hard as could for a good couple of minutes, but then he couldn't take it anymore, and felt himself drifting further and further away, only to be replaced by his "inner demon". He cried out, trying to fight harder, grabbing his head to stop the pain, but it was useless. He had advanced into madness. Arnaud was going to help himself, then kill Darien. He was officially screwed.

His already-dark eyes turned blood red, and his face turned from a look of agony, to a look of superiority, despite his situation. He could feel more power surge through his body, more than he normally had, one advantage of QSM. He was no longer afraid of what was going to happen to him and Arnaud. He had every intention of killing Arnaud anyway, so there was no problem there. Plus, he was in the early stages of Quicksilver Madness. Everything was going perfect. And as an added bonus, Hobbes and Claire would no doubt be showing up soon to save the gland, so he would have a shot at them also. 

Darien stood up from the floor and straightened his no-longer-aching body. He was almost surprised that he had no cuffs on, but Arnaud never thought too far ahead in the future. 

Speaking of the devil, where was de Föhn, anyway? No doubt outside of the room somewhere, observing every move he made. He walked confidently over to the video camera he had found earlier, and pushed his face as close to it as he could without jumping up. 

"Hey, buddy, you like what you're seeing? I hope it's all been worth it, because you're gonna die soon anyway. Wouldn't want you to have any regrets, right?" Darien said very sarcastically. Not exactly a last resort. 

He wasn't surprised when there was no answer. No one even came in the room. He sighed aloud, bored, and looked for a way out. "Come on, Arnie, I know there's a way out somewhere. It can't be hidden to well, that's not your style…" He searched for an exit, moving over to where Arnaud had left earlier. He couldn't find anything. 

Then a voice filled the room. "The door only opens from the outside. I have people opening the door for me, but rest assured they won't open it for you. So have a seat, we'll be done soon enough."

Darien looked up, unable to pin-point where the voice was coming from. "You're just so sure of everything, aren't you?" he yelled at the camera. "How sure are you that the girl you're fucking isn't going to turn on you? I mean, the only reason you're with her is because she's a scientist, right? Only I'm sure she's better than you… Or else she wouldn't be here. She's in this building, I'm sure. I know you too well. Best of luck to you both, but it won't last long enough."

No answer. Good. He had gotten Arnaud into some trouble by pointing out the truth, and no doubt the woman was right next to him. It wouldn't be a pretty sight. But at least he had made a diversion. 

Luckily for Darien, Arnaud hadn't checked for weapons. He bent down and pulled a Swiss Army Knife from inside his white sock. The blade pulled easily from the body of the knife, and he jammed it into the padding that covered the wall, near where he assumed the door must be. 

He heard it hit metal.

"Bullseye."

Still cutting away at the padding, he released it from the door until he could see nearly the whole thing. Arnaud was right. The door had to be opened from the outside. Good thing Hobbes and Claire were on their way, and he knew they were. They would be able to get him out. Now all he had to do was wait and hope that his diversion worked long enough and that Arnaud didn't get all the information he needed in the meantime. 

~*~*~

"Would you hurry up, _Hobbes_?" Oz rushed the older man from outside of the tunnel. They had made it inside the building, but only Hobbes remained in the tunnel still. "I thought we were in a hurry?"

"Lay off, kid, I'm going as fast as I can," Hobbes replied grumpily. He crawled through the ending of the tunnel and into the building, which, surprisingly, had no guard at this particular entrance. He hoped that Arnaud simply didn't know about the tunnel, and that they weren't walking into a trap. He was betting on the first. Arnaud had to be too occupied with Darien to be looking for secret entrances. 

Bobby landed hard on the floor, not expecting the ground to be that far away. He groaned and rubbed his back, then stood up with Claire and Oz. "Alright, let's go find Darien."

It didn't take long to find where Arnaud was keeping Darien. Guards slowly began to become more ample as they got closer to the middle of the building, until they reached one room, which was more guarded than any other room they had encountered so far. 

"This must be it," Claire whispered. Then she frowned. "There has to be at least five guards. How can we get past them without alerting Arnaud?"

No one had an answer for that. 

"This would be a lot easier if we had Darien to get rid of the guards, but then we wouldn't be in this position if he was here," Bobby noted while thinking of a plan. 

Oz looked up at the adults. "I'll be a diversion. You guys sneak in, I'll distract them."

Claire shook her head firmly. "No, it's too dangerous." 

Bobby added, "They have _guns_, in case you haven't noticed."

"I know, but how else are you going to get in?" Oz had them there, and he knew it. "That's what I thought." He stood up and headed towards the guards, who were clumped together in one group. 

"I'll go in after Darien, you stay here and cover us, ok?" Bobby asked Claire, handing her his gun by the barrel. He knew what a good shot she was by experience, and trusted her completely. 

She took the gun from his hand and agreed. "Hurry up, though. We don't want to give them time, or reason, to call Arnaud, who I'm sure is nearby."

Bobby understood, and hurried toward the metal door. On his way there, he heard Oz making his diversion.

"I realize this place is occupied… _now._ But I didn't when I came in. I used to come here with friends, I had no idea people would be here. No one ever comes to this place anymore."

A guard tried to stop him. "That's fine, now get out of here, kid."

"So I think that no one comes here because of the ghost. Yeah, when I was younger, my dad told me that this place was haunted. Everyone knows it. Personally, I wouldn't want to guard this place. That is what you're doing, right?"

"Hey, kid, do you understand the word 'leave'?" The guard was getting angry, as were the other four, also gathered around Oz. No one was watching the door.

Oz pretended not to notice. "Yeah, so this ghost killed himself, I guess, and never left this place. Maybe he wants to kill everyone so they don't inhabit his home, or whatever. "He shrugged, giving them a 'clueless teen' look that they completely bought, assuming him to be harmless. Bobby felt some hatred towards the kid dissipate as he made his way to the door, very quietly. He was a good liar, after all.

Oz continued rambling. "So you guys do whatever, I just thought I'd warn you. Hey, you know what? I think I saw that shirt on sale at JC Penny's the other day! If I were you, I'd get a refund. How much did you pay for that, anyway?"

Bobby got to the door, and slowly opened it up. He crept in, trying not to make noise. "Dar? You in here?"

As a response, he felt an icy hand touch his arm. "Shhh.. There's a video camera watching us. If Arnaud is paying attention, he knows you're here. We need to get out of here quickly."

Bobby grimaced, hoping that Arnaud wasn't paying attention to the screen. "Turn me invisible. I don't know how good Oz's distraction is going," he whispered. 

"Fine, but we need to find Arnaud and destroy the information he's getting from me. If he gets it, he'll be well again and he'll kill me."

Bobby agreed, noticing that Darien sounded a little weird. "Hey, partner? How long have you been invisible?"

There was a pause. "Not long," Darien lied. If Bobby knew the truth, he wouldn't let him anywhere near Arnaud, and he needed to get to him in order to kill him. "Don't worry, Hobbes, I'm fine. But not for long, so we need to hurry up so we can leave to get counteragent."

Hobbes didn't know whether or not to believe him, but he went along with it any. "Ok, let's go." He felt himself turn invisible. It was a strange, foreign feeling, but he sort of enjoyed it, after he got used to it. He wondered how Darien ever got used to it.

~*~*~

Arnaud watched Dana's long, nimble fingers type angrily away at the keys on the computer keyboard. She stared forward, crystal blue eyes gazing at the computer screen, purposely ignoring Arnaud's presence next to her.

"Listen to me, Dana…"

"No. I should have known this was all some game to you, that you could never actually be in love. But I didn't." Her melodic voice was turning dull in sadness, and resentment. She continued staring ahead, determined to finish this project, but intent not to let Arnaud get to her. Although he already was.

"This is not just some game. Besides, you would take _Fawkes'_ word over mine? He's the prisoner in the first stage of madness. He'd do anything to get out- he hates me." Arnaud prayed that she understood what he was saying and would forgive him. He knew that she would continue working on this to help him, and because she always finished what she started, but he didn't like her mad at him, and he certainly didn't want her to leave him. Even if the whole situation had started out as a game, a ploy to get her to help get information from Fawkes' brain, he had grown fond of her since. He refused to let his nemesis screw things up for him again. 

Luckily for Arnaud, she lightened up and even looked over at him. "So you aren't just doing this to get my help?"

Arnaud shook his head firmly. "I really like you, and I enjoy working with you. The fact that you can help me is a bonus." To reassure her, he grinned, and she immediately felt bad for believing that man who Arnaud so intensely disliked. 

She hugged him and gave him a quick kiss. "Thanks."

Then she turned back to the computer, and frowned. "Um, I think we might have a slight problem." She tapped a pointed red fingernail against the screen to get Arnaud's attention.

He looked over, and glared at what he saw. Fawkes' room was empty. The cameras were thermal, and pointed out that no one was in the room. The door had been opened, which meant that Fawkes' annoying friends had come to rescue him. And to top all that off, another screen Dana pulled up showed that the wires had been removed so that the computer could no longer monitor Darien's brain.

Arnaud cursed aloud, and looked around. He knew Darien better than he would have liked to admit, which at times seemed to have its advantages. He knew that Darien was in QSM, so he would risk escaping to get revenge on him. 

"Darien, I know you're here somewhere." In response he felt a cold fist connect with his jaw, sending him backwards, skidding across the floor. 

He rubbed his jaw, and moved it around trying to ease the pain, but nothing worked. So he grabbed out a pair of sunglasses from his inside jacket pocket and placed them on his nose. He saw Darien's body through the thermal glasses, so he felt safe to stand up, and did so. 

"You know, if you were smart, you would have just left." Arnaud shrugged. "But you're never really bright when it comes to revenge." He lunged for Darien and once again, they were ensued in a fight. Arnaud seemed to be winning, noting all the bruises and blood on Darien, until he felt a prick in the back of his neck and he fell to the ground.

Darien paused and looked up in surprise from the ground where he had been knocked down to. He saw Claire's smiling face, a syringe in her hand. 

"I know you wanted a chance at him again, but you really aren't in the right frame of mind to be making decisions. Besides- he was kicking your ass."

Darien moaned and fell back on the floor in frustration. But Claire felt no remorse. "Look, I know you're in Quicksilver madness, Darien. So I'm just going to ignore you until we get back to your room in town." 

Hobbes came up behind Darien and stuck a different syringe in his arm, with a long exhale. "It's about time we ended this case," he muttered to Claire as Oz as he came up behind Darien with a puzzled look on his face.


	10. Epilogue

Epilogue ****

Epilogue

"Thanks a lot, you guys," Oz claimed to the trio of agents as they stood outside of the beat-up old brown van just outside of town. "You really did a lot for us by getting rid of Arnaud."

Claire nodded, and accepted the gratitude for the other two. "You're welcome. You really were a lot of help. Maybe you'll come work with us in a couple years," she complimented him.

Darien's eyes widened. "No, Oz, don't. Really. Your life isn't worth that."

Oz laughed. "I think I'll take Darien's advice, thanks. But I have a question."

"Yeah?" Claire asked.

"How long do you think Arnaud will stay in jail?"

Darien shook his head and answered for her. "Not long enough." When he saw Oz's terrified look, he rested a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, he'll be coming for me, not you and this town. And if he does, we'll be back. For wherever a small, usually friendly town is in danger of domination from an evil Swiss man…"

"We'll be there," Hobbes finished with a chuckle. 

Oz smiled. "You know, Hobbes, you really aren't so bad after all."

Hobbes nodded. "Yeah, I know." Then, seeing his friends' looks, he added, "I was just kidding! But seriously, you're a good kid, Oz. Sorry I gave ya a hard time. You keep looking after your family, ok buddy?"

Oz agreed. "And good luck back at… The Agency. You know, that has to be the stupidest name of pretty much anything that I've ever heard."

The three all nodded. "We know."

"Ok, well, we really need to get back before the Official starts charging _us_ for this trip," Darien said sarcastically, but knowing that it was probably true. He wouldn't put it past the old man to charge them for assignments. He couldn't exactly quit, either. Oh well, he'd just have to wait for the day.

"Yeah, right. Well, thanks again, and good luck. Be careful, ok, Darien? Glad you're feeling better after the shot," Oz waved, and watched as they drove off, wondering what was in that shot that made Darien change back so drastically. 

~*~*~

Arnaud sat in the back of the police van, sitting irritated in his seat. He hadn't gotten enough information from Fawkes to advance his condition in the slightest. He growled to himself, knowing he was going to lose control of his body soon, unless he could think of something very quickly, and even then it might not be soon enough.

"Dana, darling," he called to the front of then van. "We need to get back to my place very fast." He sat back and waited.

She understood and sped up, using the lights and siren on the van for a cover. She had knocked out the policewoman and taken her uniform so she could keep her love from jail. She only prayed that he would be able to get better soon.

Arnaud felt foolish, and anger at once. He had carried out this whole, elaborate plan so carefully, but he hadn't been prepared enough. Next time, though, he vowed, he would be completely prepared. For everything. 

Fin.


End file.
